U.S. patent application number 10/172184 was filed with the patent office on 2003-12-25 for buyer, multi-supplier, multi-stage supply chain management system.
Invention is credited to Law, Edwin, Lee, Johnson C., Wei, Siqing, Yang, Lou Ping, Yin, Mingtang Thomas.
Application Number | 20030236718 10/172184 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29732969 |
Filed Date | 2003-12-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030236718 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Yang, Lou Ping ; et
al. |
December 25, 2003 |
Buyer, multi-supplier, multi-stage supply chain management
system
Abstract
A global supply chain management system in an environment of
multiple suppliers forming supply chains for one or more buyers
using the Internet to enable rapid communication of supply
information between the global supply chain management system and
each buyer and each supplier. The system includes a global
processor that maps "local" supply information for each buyer and
each supplier, represented in one or more "local" property tables
with one or more local tables for each buyer and each supplier,
into "master" supply information, represented in one or more
"master" supply tables common for multiple clients.
Inventors: |
Yang, Lou Ping; (Monte
Sereno, CA) ; Yin, Mingtang Thomas; (Saratoga,
CA) ; Law, Edwin; (Saratoga, CA) ; Wei,
Siqing; (Fremont, CA) ; Lee, Johnson C.;
(Saratoga, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DAVID E. LOVEJOY, REG. NO. 22,748
102 REED RANCH ROAD
TIBURON
CA
94920-2025
US
|
Family ID: |
29732969 |
Appl. No.: |
10/172184 |
Filed: |
June 14, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/28 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/06 20130101;
G06Q 10/087 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/28 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/60 |
Claims
1. (Original) A supply chain management system for clients where
the clients include one or more buyers and a plurality of
suppliers, where said one or more buyers place orders with ones of
said suppliers for the processing of an input to an output through
a plurality of supplier stages, said clients each using fragmented
different local information particular to each of said clients, the
improvement characterized by, mapping means for mapping said local
information for each of said clients to provide mapped raw data,
data integrity means for executing data integrity processes on said
raw data to improve the reliability of said raw data, processing
means for processing said raw data to provide processed data, a
database store for storing the raw data and the processed data as
master information, logic means accessing the master information
for executing supply chain management functions for said
clients.
2. (Original) A supply chain management system for clients where
the clients include a plurality of buyers and a plurality of
suppliers, where said buyers place orders with a plurality of
suppliers for the processing of an input to an output through a
plurality of supplier stages, said clients each using fragmented
different local information particular to each of said clients, the
improvement characterized by, network communication means for
interconnecting said clients for maintaining said local information
current in said supply chain management system, a database store
for storing master information in one or more tables having master
information correlated to local information, global processing
means for processing supply chain management information for all of
said clients including, correlation means for correlating said
local information among said clients, said correlation means
including, input mapping means for mapping said local information
for each of said clients to provide mapped data for storage in said
database store, data integrity means for executing data integrity
processes on said mapped data to provide corrected mapped data,
processing means for processing said corrected mapped data to
provide processed data for storage with said corrected mapped data
in said data base store as master information, logic means for
accessing the master information for executing supply chain
management functions for said clients to provide management data,
output mapping means for mapping said management data into local
data for said clients.
3. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and claims 2
including means for connecting with clients through the
Internet.
4. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
including tables storing correlations between said master
information and said local information for each of said
clients.
5. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2 wherein
said data integrity means includes data checking means for
detecting errors in said mapped data.
6. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2 wherein
said data integrity means includes data cleansing means for
correcting errors in said mapped data.
7. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2 wherein
said input is a lot.
8. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2 wherein
said input is a lot and said lot is split at any one of said stages
to two or more different stages performing the same type of
processing.
9. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2 wherein
said input is lots and wherein said lots, at any two or more of
said stages performing the same type of processing, are combined
for processing in a downstream stage.
10. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein suppliers supply local supplier information via electronic
records.
11. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein suppliers supply local supplier information to said system
via data in electronic records and re p orts and wherein said data
integrity means operates to check for data consistency within
records, data consistency within reports, data consistency across
different reports from a particular supplier, data consistency
among data from multiple suppliers and one or more buyers, data
consistency among data from multiple suppliers.
12. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein said clients are in the semiconductor manufacturing
industry and said supplier stages include one or more of Fab, Wafer
Sort, Assembly and Final Test for processing from the input to the
output.
13. (Original) The system of claim 12 wherein said supplier stages
include Fab, Wafer Sort, Assembly and Final Test and one or more
additional stages.
14. (Original) The system of claim 13 wherein said one or more
additional stages include one or more of Packaging, Bumping and
Marking.
15. (Original) The system of claim 12 wherein said input is a
lot.
16. (Original) The system of claim 12 wherein said input is a wafer
lot.
17. (Original) The system of claim 12 wherein said input is a die
lot.
18. (Original) The system of claim 12 wherein said output is
finished goods.
19. (Original) The system of claim 12 wherein said output is die
s.
20. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein said input includes a plurality of lots, wherein said
database stores one or more tables for correlations between said
master information and said local information for each of said
buyers and suppliers for each of said lots and wherein each of said
tables has unique base lots common to all tables for identifying
said lots.
21. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein said input includes a plurality of lots, wherein said
database stores one or more tables for correlations between said
master information and said local information for each of said
buyers and suppliers for each of said lots and wherein each of said
tables has unique base lots common to all tables for identifying
said lots and wherein each of said stages has an additional lot
number for each base lot whereby the combination of said base lot
and the lot number represents the genealogy of said lots in said
stages.
22. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein said input is a lot, wherein said database stores one or
more tables for correlations between said master information and
said local information for each of said buyers and suppliers and
wherein each of said tables has a base lot common to all tables for
identifying said lot.
23. (Original) The system of claim 22 wherein said local
information is RosettaNet information.
24. (Original) The system of claim 22 wherein said clients are in
the semiconductor manufacturing industry and said supplier stages
for each lot include one or more of Fab, Wafer Sort, Assembly and
Final Test.
25. (Original) The system of claim 22 wherein said supplier stages
for one or more of said lots is split among multiple Fab
stages.
26. (Original) The system of claim 22 wherein said supplier stages
for one or more of said wafer lots is split among multiple Wafer
Sort stages.
27. (Original) The system of claim 22 wherein said supplier stages
for one or more of said wafer lots are split among multiple
Assembly stages.
28. (Original) The system of claim 22 wherein said supplier stages
for one or more of said wafer lots is split among multiple Final
Test stages.
29. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein said clients are in the semiconductor manufacturing
industry and said input is a wafer lot and wherein said supply
chain management functions provide a lot tracking report based upon
said lot data.
30. (Original) The system of claim 29 wherein said lot data is
static data.
31. (Original) The system of claim 30 wherein said static data
includes Date Code, Lot No, Order Date, Order Qty, PO No, Routing,
Sup, and Unit Price.
32. (Original) The system of claim 29 wherein said lot data is
dynamic data.
33. (Original) The system of claim 32 wherein said dynamic data
includes Date Information and Quantity Information.
34. (Original) The system of claim 33 wherein said Date Information
includes Completed Date, Hold Date, Received Date, Ship Date and
Start Date.
35. (Original) The system of claim 33 wherein said Quantity
Information includes and Completed Qty, Hold Qty, Received Qty,Ship
Qty and Start Qty.
36. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein said clients are in the semiconductor manufacturing
industry and said input is a wafer lot and said output is a chip
product and wherein said supply chain management functions include
an actual cost lot detail report.
37. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein said clients are in the semiconductor manufacturing
industry and said input is a wafer lot and said output is a chip
product and wherein said supply chain management functions include
a wafer rolling output report.
38. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein said clients are in the semiconductor manufacturing
industry and said input is a wafer lot and said output is a chip
product and wherein said supply chain management functions include
a finished goods rolling output report.
39. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein said clients are in the semiconductor manufacturing
industry and said input is a wafer lot and said output is a chip
product and wherein said supply chain management functions include
a work in progress inventory report.
40. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein said clients are in the semiconductor manufacturing
industry and said input is a wafer lot and said output is a chip
product and wherein said supply chain management system functions
to include an alert to signal a condition in the supply chain
management system.
41. (Original) The system as in either one of claims 1 and 2
wherein, said buyers, B, include buyers B.sub.0, B.sub.1, . . . ,
B.sub.b, . . . , B.sub.B, said suppliers, S, include suppliers
S.sub.0, S.sub.1, . . . , S.sub.s, . . . , S.sub.S, said stages, P,
include stages [P.sub.0,0, P.sub.0,1, . . . , P.sub.0,N];
[P.sub.1,0, . . . ];[ . . . , P.sub.m,n, . . . ]; [P.sub.M,0, . . .
, P.sub.M,N].
42. (Original) The system of claim 41 wherein each of said stages,
P, includes up to T transactions, T.sub.0, T.sub.1, . . . ,
T.sub.T.
43. (Original) The system of claim 42 wherein said T transactions
are ORDER, WIP, YIELD, SHIPMENT, RECEIVE, WAREHOUSE and
PAYMENT.
44. (Original) A method of supply chain management for clients
where the clients include one or more buyers and a plurality of
suppliers, where said one or more buyers place orders with ones of
said suppliers for the processing of an input to an output through
a plurality of supplier stages, said clients each using fragmented
different local information particular to each of said clients, the
improvement characterized by, mapping said local information for
each of said clients to provide mapped data, executing data
integrity processes on said mapped data to improve the reliability
of said mapped data, processing said mapped data to provide
processed data, storing the mapped data and the processed data as
master information, accessing the master information to execute
supply chain management functions for said clients.
Description
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
[0001] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains
material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright
owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of
the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the
Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise
reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to internet commerce and
particularly to methods and apparatus that enable efficient
management of procurement transactions between buyers and suppliers
in a supply chain that includes outsourcing with multiple
suppliers.
[0003] Today, buyers and suppliers operate in a fast changing
global environment where quantities needed, pricing, technical
specifications and other supply parameters are frequently changing.
The supply chain for procurement of goods and services requires
economies of scale, market pricing and rapid delivery. The
management of the process of procuring goods and services is known
as "supply chain management".
[0004] Supply chain management is affected, for example, by the
globalization of businesses, the proliferation of product and
service variety, the increasing complexity of supply networks, and
the shortening of product life cycles. Market conditions are
susceptible to rapid demand fluctuation, inventory buildup, price
competition, and frequent specification changes. The supply chain
for any particular company may be primarily internal supply.
However, outsourcing is often used as an alternative to internal
supply. By way of example, outsourcing is used to reduce costs,
control inventories and respond to rapid demand changes.
Outsourcing increasingly is involving more and more suppliers and
supply chains are growing more complex.
[0005] In fast changing markets, buyers require "current" and at
times "real-time" quotes and other information from suppliers that
specify, among other things, accurate quantities, prices and
delivery times. The ability to rapidly exchange information among
buyers and suppliers is paramount to efficient supply chain
management, particularly in an outsourcing environment.
[0006] The Internet is an efficient electronic link among buyers
and suppliers for exchange of supply chain information. The
Internet operates with open standards and permits easy, universal
and secure information exchange. Many roles exist for the Internet
in commerce and some of these roles have been described as
"e-business", "e-commerce", and "internet commerce". For purposes
of the present specification, the term "internet commerce" (or
"i-commerce") is used to represent the role of the Internet in
supply chain management.
[0007] "Internet commerce" enables companies, among other things,
to realize greater efficiency, have better asset utilization, have
faster times to market, reduce order fulfillment times, enhance
customer services and penetrate new markets. The Internet provides
an enormous capability for distribution of "current" information
that is useful and necessary for improved supply chain management.
"Current" information often must be information available on a
"real-time" or near "real time" basis. The Internet makes it
possible to communicate "current" information about technology
changes, availability of goods and services, up-to-date prices for
goods and services and other information needed to manage a supply
chain. When outsourcing is employed in the supply chain, the
visibility into the current status of the supply chain is more
difficult and requires new and improved methods for insuring that
complete, accurate and timely information is available. In the
absence of such current information, the ability to react in a
timely way to exceptions, abnormal events and other matters may be
lost or delayed. When the time for taking action is not recognized
or is delayed, supply chain management suffers and ultimately the
cost of goods and services increases.
[0008] Although internet commerce simplifies many aspects of
procurement, difficulties still exist and improvements are needed.
One difficulty results because large numbers of suppliers and
buyers are attached to the market place and each participant,
whether buyer or supplier, tends to use different parameters,
terminology, terms, conditions and other information unique to the
particular participant. These differences among participants result
in an information exchange problem.
[0009] The information exchange problem is particularly acute, for
example, in the outsourcing semiconductor manufacturing industry
because goods and services procured from one supplier are
frequently further processed by other suppliers in subsequent
downstream stages. In order to have efficient and economical supply
chain management, the interrelationship among each buyer and the
upstream and down stream suppliers requires an exchange of
"current" information that permits real-time visibility into the
status of the supply chain, fast identification of abnormal events
and other information that permits exception management.
[0010] One difficulty that frustrates the good visibility necessary
for supply chain management is the proliferation of different
terminology and specifications used by each participant in the
supply chain. While any dominating buyer (and potentially any
dominating supplier) can demand conformance with its way of doing
business for its own business, the semiconductor manufacturing
industry as a whole remains widely fragmented without much progress
toward standardization. Furthermore, this fragmentation is
increasing rather than decreasing so that problems are bound to
exist for many years to come. The fragmentation exists, of course,
in many other industries.
[0011] Cooperative attempts have been made toward standardization
in some industries. In the electronics component industry, the
RosettaNet has the intent of providing industry wide
standardization across the electronic components trading network.
Some attempts have been made to standardize the semiconductor
manufacturing industry. Notwithstanding these attempts, the
semiconductor manufacturing industry remains fragmented and neither
the RosettaNet nor any other standard has become widely
adopted.
[0012] Accordingly, there is a great demand for improved supply
chain management methods and apparatus that will operate
efficiently in fragmented markets.
SUMMARY
[0013] The present invention is a global supply chain management
system in an environment of multiple suppliers forming supply
chains for one or more buyers. The global supply chain management
system includes a network connection, such as the Internet, for
each buyer and each supplier to enable rapid communication of
supply information between the global supply chain management
system and each buyer and each supplier. The system includes a
global processor with logic that maps "local" supply information
for each buyer and each supplier, represented in one or more
property tables having master information correlated to local
information for each buyer and each supplier. This environment is
fragmented, that is, the industry as a whole has not adopted any
common set of standard terminology. In a fragmented industry, each
instance of local supply information for any client (buyer or
supplier) can be and usually is different from the local supply
information for any other client (buyer or supplier). The
embodiments of the present invention map supply information from
and to the master internal property information to and from
fragmented output local information according to the local property
correlation for each buyer and each supplier. Notwithstanding the
fragmentation among buyers and suppliers, the global supply chain
management system functions to implement global supply chain
management using "current" supply chain information supplied over
the Internet using the fragmented local supply information used by
the buyer or supplier.
[0014] To insure that the supply information is accurate, the
global processor executes data integrity processes to improve the
reliability of the supply information. The data integrity processes
include data checking and data cleansing so that mapped supply
information through error detection and correction becomes more
accurate than the original fragmented raw data. Data integrity
processes are performed, for example, for data consistency within a
record, data consistency within a report, data consistency across
different reports from a particular supplier, data consistency
between suppliers' and buyers' data and data consistency among
suppliers.
[0015] Based upon a continuously updated data base having "current"
supply information, the global processor provides reports for
numerous data types including work-in-progress (WIP) reports,
activity-based transaction reports (TR) that are created on a daily
or other basis (including detail for each buyer and supplier
stage), order reports, shipment reports and invoice reports. The
terminology for the various reports and the items reported upon
have no standard definitions. For example, Orders are known by
different names including purchase orders (PO) that logically are
for goods and work orders (WO) that logically are for services.
However, common practice in many industries uses the term Purchase
Order generically for any type of order whether for goods or
services. These reports are all conveniently distributed over the
Internet in a format and with the terminology selected by each
client, whether the client is a buyer or a supplier.
[0016] With access to "current" supply information for multiple
suppliers and with mapping capability among fragmented local
property tables of multiple suppliers and buyers, the global
processor enables the Internet placement of purchase orders and
work orders (POs and WOs) that can be accompanied by detailed
specifications using electronic attachments.
[0017] With access to "current" supply information for multiple
suppliers and with mapping capability among fragmented local
property tables of multiple suppliers and buyers, the global
processor enables global planning from input to output of the
supply chain. In the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain, the
planning extends from Wafer (front end, upstream) planning to
package/test (back end, down stream) planning.
[0018] The supply chain management system is able to provide lot
tracking reports, actual cost lot detail reports, wafer rolling
output reports, finished goods rolling output reports, work in
progress inventory reports and other reports useful for supply
chain management.
[0019] The supply chain management system employs planning based
upon upstream visibility in the supply chain. Such capabilities are
particularly useful in outsourcing to suppliers in a semiconductor
supply chain. In the semiconductor IC-design outsourcing industry,
the buyer (IC-design house) deals with multiple suppliers that
provide various outsourcing functions at different supplier stages.
The buyer places a separate order (Purchase Order) with each
supplier. Although the Purchase Orders are separate between a buyer
and each supplier, each supplier depends on the previous supplier
(upstream supplier) in the supply chain.
[0020] In the semiconductor manufacturing industry in order to
procure finished goods (for example a finished semicondcutor chip),
a buyer first orders wafers from a Fab supplier (foundry); once the
work at the Fab supplier is finished, the buyer orders sorting from
a Wafer Sort supplier; after the Wafer Sort work is finished, the
buyer orders Assembly from an Assembly supplier; and finally, the
buyer orders Final Test from a Final Test supplier. The supply
chain management system is able to perform group order generation
for groups of dependent suppliers (such as Fab, Wafer Sort,
Assembly and Final Test suppliers) in the supply chain.
[0021] The supply chain management system performs alert processes
based upon alert conditions for specific events/reports/process of
the supply chain. Alert reports are accessible to clients through
i-commerce onscreen operations or through other methods of
communication. Typically, alert conditions are communicated daily
(or more frequently if desired) in the form of event generation and
alert messages.
[0022] The input to the supply chain can take many forms and is a
function of the particular industry. The input can be raw
materials, groups of components or "lots" of any kind. In the
semiconductor manufacturing industry, frequently "lots" are "wafer
lots" or "die lots".
[0023] Lot Tracking is implemented by logic in the global processor
to store detailed information related to a lot in the supply chain.
The lot tracking information is categorized into two major parts,
namely, static data where the data are fixed during the
manufacturing processes and dynamic data where the data can be
changed during the manufacturing processes. For example, the static
data includes Date Code, Lot No, Order Date, Order Qty, Part No,
Production Order No, PO No, Routing, Sup, and Unit Price. For
example, the dynamic data includes two main parts, namely, Date
Information, {Completed Date, Hold Date, Received Date, Ship Date,
Start Date} and Quantity Information (Completed Qty, Downgrade Qty,
Goodpart Qty, Hold Qty, Received Qty, Returned Qty, Scrappart Qty,
Ship Qty, Start Qty}.
[0024] Lot tracking stores the genealogy of a lot in order to track
and recall the lot history quickly. This tracking is done by
storing the parent-child relationship for lots. For flexible in
loading the lot tracking data, work-in-progress (WIP) reports and
activity-based transaction reports (TR) are used.
[0025] Lot tracking is unique in the sense that a robust and
consistent data set for the production and finance related
information of a fragmented supply chain is maintained in one
central place. The maintenance of such information permits
performance checking, such as cycle time, yield analysis and cost
reporting on a lot basis down to each stage of the supply
chain.
[0026] The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of
the invention will be apparent from the following detailed
description in conjunction with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] FIG. 1 depicts a plurality of supply chain management
systems organized in part on an individual buyer basis and in an
environment of multiple buyers and multiple suppliers forming a
supply chain and depicts a global supply chain management system
for the multiple buyers and multiple suppliers.
[0028] FIG. 2 depicts further details of the global supply chain
management system of FIG. 1 with a multi-stage, multi-lot processor
for multiple buyers and multiple suppliers.
[0029] FIG. 3 depicts details of the supply chain management system
of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 with details for typical stages for
processing.
[0030] FIG. 4 depicts details of a single one of the buyers and
multiple suppliers for the multistage, multi-lot processing within
the supply chain management system of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
[0031] FIG. 5 depicts one example of a purchase order set for a lot
in the FIG. 4 system.
[0032] FIG. 6 depicts another example of a purchase order set for a
lot in the FIG. 4 system.
[0033] FIG. 7 depicts another example of a purchase order set for a
lot in the FIG. 4 system.
[0034] FIG. 8 depicts details of a multiple ones of the buyers and
multiple suppliers for the multistage, multi-lot processing within
the supply chain management system of FIG. 1.
[0035] FIG. 9 depicts a hardware block diagram of a computer system
network for the supply chain management system of FIG. 1.
[0036] FIG. 10 depicts a software block diagram for the supply
chain management system of FIG. 1.
[0037] FIG. 11 depicts a correlation processor for correlating
input and output information among clients including mapping and
data integrity processing in the FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 systems for
supply chain management.
[0038] FIG. 12 depicts one example all of a multiple supplier
branch in a supply chain transaction.
[0039] FIG. 13 depicts a cross supplier error checking in the
example of FIG. 12.
[0040] FIG. 14 depicts one example of a lot tracking report.
[0041] FIG. 15 depicts a cross supplier lot tracking example 1.
[0042] FIG. 16 depicts a cross supplier lot tracking example 2.
[0043] FIG. 17 depicts an actual cost--lot detail report.
[0044] FIG. 18 depicts the purchase order logic flow for creation
and acceptance of blanket purchase orders and purchase orders.
[0045] FIG. 19 depicts an example of Final Test purchase order.
[0046] FIG. 20 depicts an example of an attachment that appears as
a thumbnail image in the Final Test purchase order of FIG. 19.
[0047] FIG. 21 depicts an example of a wafer rolling output
report.
[0048] FIG. 22 depicts an example of a finished goods rolling
output report with package planning.
[0049] FIG. 23 depicts an example of a work in progress inventory
report.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0050] FIG. 1 depicts a plurality of supply chain management
systems 2-1, 2-2, . . . 2-M organized on an individual buyer (B)
basis for the buyers 3-1, 3-2, . . . , 3-B in an environment also
including multiple suppliers 7-1, 7-2, . . . , 7-S. FIG. 1 also
depicts a supply chain management system 1 serving all the multiple
buyers 3-1, 3-2, . . . , 3-B and multiple suppliers 7-1, 7-2, . . .
,7-S. The multiple buyers and multiple suppliers of FIG. 1 are
connected over the internet and hence are able to exchange supply
information rapidly and essentially in real time.
[0051] In FIG. 1, the local supply chain for each buyer includes
supply stages 4 that typically include internal supply 5, that is,
supply from the buyer's own organization, and outsourced supply 6,
that is, supply from external suppliers 7-1, 7-2, . . . , 7-S.
Specifically, the buyers 3-1, 3-2, 3-B have the supply stages 4-1,
4-2, . . . , 4-B, each in turn having the internal supply 5-1, 5-2,
. . . 5-SS and the external supply 6-1, 6-2, . . . , 6-SS,
respectively.
[0052] Each of the local supply chain management systems 2-1, 2-2,
. . . , 2-M are maintained, for example, by the individual buyers
3-1, 3-2, . . . , 3-B and they are typically characterized as
having their own terminology, specifications and other supply chain
parameters. In FIG. 1, the suppliers and buyers as a whole are
widely fragmented without much standardization. FIG. 1, therefore,
as it encompasses local supply chain management systems 2-1, 2-2, .
. . , 2-M is representative of the semiconductor manufacturing
industry.
[0053] Additionally, in FIG. 1, a global supply chain management
system 1 is designed to overcome the local fragmentation and
efficiently serve all the multiple buyers 3-1, 3-2, . . . , 3-B and
multiple suppliers 7-1, 7-2, . . . , 7-S. The supply chain
management system 1 includes a a global processor 8 that uses
network communications such as the Internet for overcoming the
fragmentation of local supply chain management systems 2-1, 2-2, .
. . , 2-M and for providing integrated supply chain management.
FIG. 2 depicts a supply chain management system operating in an
environment of one or more buyers, B, including buyers B.sub.0,
B.sub.1, . . . , BB multiple suppliers, S, including suppliers
S.sub.0, S.sub.1, . . . , S.sub.S in a supply chain. The buyers and
suppliers are connected to a Multi-stage, Multi-Lot Processor for
Multiple Buyers (B) and Multiple Suppliers (S) where the supply
chain includes inputs I.sub.0, I.sub.1, . . . , I.sub.i, . . . ,
I.sub.I to the supply chain and outputs O.sub.0, O.sub.1, . . . ,
O.sub.o, . . . , O.sub.O from the supply chain. The inputs are
introduced to and the outputs are derived from Multiple Processing
Stages (P) with Multiple Transactions (T) per Stage. The stages
include [P.sub.0,0, P.sub.0,1, . . . , P.sub.0,N]; [P.sub.1,0, . .
. ];[ . . . , P.sub.m,n, . . . ]; [P.sub.M,0, . . . , P.sub.M,N].
Each stage such as a typical stage P.sub.m,n includes up to T
transactions such as T.sub.0, T.sub.1, . . . , T.sub.t, . . . ,
T.sub.T.
[0054] FIG. 3 depicts details of the supply chain management system
of FIG. 2 and details typical stages for processing. The one or
more buyers, B, including B.sub.0, B.sub.1, . . . , B.sub.b, . . .
, B.sub.B, and the multiple suppliers, S, including S.sub.0,
S.sub.1, . . . . S.sub.s, . . . , S.sub.S are in the supply chain.
Stages P.sub.m,n and P.sub.m,n+1 are typical of the many stages
[P.sub.0,0, P.sub.0,1, . . . , P.sub.0,N]; [P.sub.1,0, . . . ]; [ .
. . , P.sub.m,n, . . . ]; [P.sub.M,0, . . . , P.sub.M,N] of FIG. 2.
In particular, stage P.sub.m,n includes up to T transactions such
as T.sub.0, T.sub.1, . . . , T.sub.T. By way of example, stage
P.sub.m,n includes transactions (T.sub.0), (T.sub.1), (T.sub.2),
(T.sub.3), (T.sub.4), (T.sub.5), . . . , (T.sub.T) which are, for
example, ORDER, WIP, YIELD, SHIPMENT, RECEIVE, WAREHOUSE, . . . ,
PAYMENT. Many other transactions are possible, of course.
[0055] In FIG. 3, the stage P.sub.m,n is in the supply chain with
B.sub.b as the buyer and S.sub.s as the supplier. By way of another
example, the stage P.sub.m,n+1 is also in the supply chain with
B.sub.b as the buyer and S.sub.s as the supplier. The stage
P.sub.m,n+1 may include the transactions (T.sub.0), (T.sub.1),
(T.sub.2), (T.sub.3), (T.sub.4), (T.sub.5), . . . , (T.sub.T) which
are for P.sub.m,n ORDER, WIP, YIELD, SHIPMENT, RECEIVE, WAREHOUSE
or stage P.sub.m,n+1 may have a different set of transactions.
[0056] FIG. 4 depicts details of a single one of the buyers and
multiple suppliers for the multistage, multi-lot processing within
the supply chain management system of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 depicts a
supply chain management system operating in an environment of one
buyer, B.sub.b and multiple suppliers, S, including S.sub.0,
S.sub.1, S.sub.2, S.sub.3, S.sub.4, S.sub.5, . . . , S.sub.S in a
supply chain. The buyers and suppliers are connected to a
Multi-stage, Multi-Lot Processor for Multiple Buyers (B) and
Multiple Suppliers (S) where the supply chain includes inputs
I.sub.0, I.sub.1, I.sub.2, . . . , I.sub.I to the supply chain and
outputs O.sub.0, O.sub.1, O.sub.2, . . . , O.sub.O from the supply
chain. The inputs are introduced to and the outputs are derived
from Multiple Processing Stages (P) with Multiple Transactions (T)
per Stage. The stages include [P.sub.0,0, P.sub.0,1, P.sub.0,2,
P.sub.0,3];[P.sub.1,0, P.sub.1,1, P.sub.1,2, P.sub.1,3]; . . . ;
[P.sub.x,0, P.sub.x,1, P.sub.x,2, P.sub.x,3]; . . . ; [P.sub.M,0, .
. . P.sub.M,3]. Each of those stages includes a set of up to T
transactions such as T.sub.0, T.sub.1, . . . , T.sub.t, . . . ,
T.sub.T like those described in connection wit FIG. 2.
[0057] In FIG. 4, buyer, B.sub.b initiates operation of the supply
chain in connection with a purchase by authorizing inputs I.sub.1
and I.sub.2. The I.sub.1 input, such as a semiconductor lot (wafer
lot or die lot), to the supply chain progresses through a first
sequence of stages [P.sub.0,0, P.sub.x,1, P.sub.1,2, P.sub.x,3] to
the output O.sub.1. The supplier for the stage P.sub.0,0 stage is
S.sub.0, the supplier for the stage P.sub.x,1 stage is S.sub.2, the
supplier for the stage P.sub.1,2 stage is S.sub.3 and the supplier
for the stages P.sub.1,3 stage is S.sub.5. Similarly, the I.sub.2
input, such as a semiconductor lot, to the supply chain progresses
through a second sequence of stages [P.sub.0,0, P.sub.0,1,
P.sub.x,2, P.sub.x,3] to the output O.sub.2. The supplier for the
stage P.sub.0,0 stage is S.sub.0, the supplier for the stage
P.sub.0,1 stage is S.sub.1, the supplier for the stage P.sub.x,2
stage is S.sub.4 and the supplier for the stages P.sub.x,3 stage is
S.sub.S. FIG. 4 depicts details of a single one of the buyers and
multiple suppliers for the multistage, multi-lot processing within
the supply chain management system of FIG. 1.
[0058] FIG. 5 depicts one example of a purchase order set for
multistage processing in the FIG. 4 system. In FIG. 5, buyer,
B.sub.b, initiates operation of the supply chain in connection with
a purchase by authorizing input I.sub.1. The input I.sub.1 to the
supply chain progresses through a sequence of stages [P.sub.0,0,
P.sub.x,1, P.sub.1,2, P.sub.1,3] to provide the output O.sub.1. The
supplier for the stage P.sub.0,0 stage is S.sub.0, the supplier for
the stage P.sub.x,1 stage is S.sub.2, the supplier for the stage
P.sub.1,2 stage is S.sub.3 and the supplier for the stages
P.sub.1,3 stage is S.sub.5. In order for the work to be performed
through the stages [P.sub.0,0, P.sub.x,1, P.sub.x,1, P.sub.1,2,
P.sub.1,3] of FIG. 5, orders authorizing and specifying the terms
and conditions associated with the work are agreed upon by the
buyer, B.sub.b, and the suppliers S.sub.0, S.sub.2, S.sub.3, and
S.sub.5. The orders in FIG. 5 are designated P.sub.0,0S.sub.0,
P.sub.x,1S.sub.2, P.sub.1,2S.sub.3 and P.sub.1,3S.sub.5. These
orders are called "purchase orders" or "work orders" and apply to
goods and services. In some industries, both goods and services are
involved but in other industries either goods or services alone are
involved.
[0059] In a semiconductor manufacturing environment, both goods and
services are involved. Typically, the I.sub.1 input is a lot (wafer
lot or die lot) and the processing stages are typically Fab, Wafer
Sort, Assembly and Final Test. Other stages are of course possible
and include, for example, Packaging (such as tape and real),
Bumping and Marking. The processing stages Fab, Wafer Sort,
Assembly and Final Test are each performed by a supplier and
typically the different suppliers S.sub.0, S.sub.2, S.sub.3, and
S.sub.5. The work at each of the processing stages of Fab, Wafer
Sort, Assembly and Final Test is authorized and controlled by the
purchase orders P.sub.0,0S.sub.0, P.sub.x,1S.sub.2,
P.sub.1,2S.sub.3 and P.sub.1,3S.sub.5, respectively. The output
from the stages [P.sub.0,0, P.sub.x,1, P.sub.1,2, P.sub.1,3] are
represented by [G.sub.0,0, G.sub.x,1, G.sub.1,2, O.sub.1],
respectively. In FIG. 5, the set of purchase orders
[P.sub.0,0S.sub.0, P.sub.x,1S.sub.2, P.sub.1,2S.sub.3,
P.sub.1,3S.sub.5] relate to interdependent work steps. The output,
O.sub.1, is only obtained when all of the orders [P.sub.0,0S.sub.0,
P.sub.x,1S.sub.2, P.sub.1,2S.sub.3, P.sub.1,3S.sub.5] have been
executed according to their terms and in sequence from the most
upstream order P.sub.0,0S.sub.0 in turn through the orders
P.sub.x,1S.sub.2, P.sub.1,2S.sub.3 to the most downstream order
P.sub.1,3S.sub.5. Furthermore, the downstream orders depend upon
the performance of the upstream orders. Typically, in the
semiconductor manufacturing industry, the output at any stage is a
variable, for example, varying as to supply chain parameters such
as quantity, quality and delivery time. Accordingly, orders with
downstream suppliers often need to be conditioned upon the results
of one or more upstream suppliers.
[0060] When information in a supply chain is not accurate and
"current", the entire supply chain can become inefficient, subject
to distortion and unstable. One of the common distortion problems
is escalating over-requirement forecasts that tend to greatly
exceed market demand. Such escalation is sometimes referred to as a
"bullwhip" effect. The "bullwhip" results when each supplier in the
supply chain over states actual demand. The over demand escalates
as forecasts are propagated downstream in the supply chain. Each
downstream supplier amplifies the over-requirement of the previous
stage.
[0061] In the FIG. 5 purchase order set, each of the suppliers
receives "current" and accurate information from upstream suppliers
through use of communications over the Internet. The "current"
information helps to reduce supply chain escalation of over
requirements.
[0062] FIG. 6 depicts another example of a purchase order set for
multistage processing in the FIG. 4 system. In FIG. 6, buyer,
B.sub.b, initiates operation of the supply chain in connection with
a purchase by authorizing input I.sub.2. The input I.sub.2 to the
supply chain progresses through a sequence of stages [P.sub.0,0,
P.sub.0,1, P.sub.x,2, P.sub.x,3] to provide the output O.sub.2. The
supplier for the stage P.sub.0,0 stage is S.sub.0, the supplier for
the stage P.sub.0,1 stage is S.sub.1, the supplier for the stage
P.sub.x,2 stage is S.sub.4 and the supplier for the stages
P.sub.x,3 stage is S.sub.S. In order for the work to be performed
through the stages [P.sub.0,0, P.sub.0,1, P.sub.x,2, P.sub.x,3] of
FIG. 6, orders authorizing and specifying the terms and conditions
associated with the work are agreed upon by the buyer, B.sub.b, and
the suppliers S.sub.0, S.sub.1, S.sub.4, and S.sub.S. The orders in
FIG. 6 are designated P.sub.0,0S.sub.0, P.sub.x,1S.sub.2,
P.sub.1,2S.sub.3 and P.sub.1,3S.sub.5.
[0063] In a semiconductor manufacturing environment, the I.sub.2
input is a wafer lot and the processing stages are typically Fab,
Wafer Sort, Assembly and Final Test each performed by a supplier
and typically the different suppliers S.sub.0, S.sub.1, S.sub.4,
and S.sub.S, respectively. The work at each of the processing
stages of Fab, Wafer Sort, Assembly and Final Test is authorized
and controlled by the orders P.sub.0,0S.sub.0, P.sub.0,1S.sub.1,
P.sub.x,2S.sub.4 and P.sub.x,3S.sub.S, respectively. The output
from the stages [P.sub.0,0, P.sub.0,1, P.sub.x,2, P.sub.x,3] are
represented by [G.sub.0,0, G.sub.0,1, G.sub.x,2, O.sub.2],
respectively. In FIG. 6, the set of purchase orders
[P.sub.0,0S.sub.0, P.sub.0,1S.sub.1, P.sub.x,2S.sub.4,
P.sub.x,3S.sub.S] relate to interdependent work steps. The output,
O.sub.2, is only obtained when all of the orders [P.sub.0,0S.sub.0,
P.sub.0,1S.sub.1, P.sub.x,2S.sub.4, P.sub.x,3S.sub.S] have been
executed according to their terms and in the sequence from the most
upstream order P.sub.0,0S.sub.0 in turn through the orders
P.sub.0,1S.sub.1, P.sub.x,2S.sub.4 to the most downstream order
P.sub.x,3S.sub.S.
[0064] In the FIG. 6 purchase order set, each of the suppliers
receives "current" and accurate information from upstream suppliers
through use of communications over the Internet. The "current"
information helps to reduce supply chain escalation of over
requirements.
[0065] FIG. 7 depicts another example of a purchase order set for
multistage processing in the FIG. 4 system. In FIG. 7, buyer,
B.sub.b, initiates operation of the supply chain in connection with
a purchase by authorizing input I.sub.3. The input I.sub.3 to the
supply chain progresses through a sequence of stages commencing
with a stage P.sub.0,0 and thereafter split into two sequences,
namely, [P.sub.x,1, P.sub.1,2, P.sub.1,3] to provide the output
O.sub.3 and [P.sub.x+1,1, P.sub.0,2, P.sub.0,3] to provide the
output O.sub.4. The supplier for the stage P.sub.0,0 stage is
S.sub.0, the supplier for the stage P.sub.x,1 stage is S.sub.2, the
supplier for the stage P.sub.1,2 stage is S.sub.3 and the supplier
for the stages P.sub.1,3 stage is S.sub.5 and the supplier for the
stage P.sub.x+1,1 stage is S.sub.6, the supplier for the stage
P.sub.0,2 stage is S.sub.7 and the supplier for the stages
P.sub.0,3 stage is S.sub.8. In order for the work to be performed
through the stage P.sub.0,0 an order authorizing and specifying the
terms and conditions associated with the work are agreed upon by
the buyer, B.sub.b, and the supplier S.sub.0. In order for the work
to be performed through the stages [P.sub.x,1, P.sub.1,2,
P.sub.1,3] of FIG. 7, orders authorizing and specifying the terms
and conditions associated with the work are agreed upon by the
buyer, B.sub.b, and the suppliers S.sub.2, S.sub.3 and S.sub.5. In
order for the work to be performed through the stages [P.sub.x+1,1,
P.sub.0,2, P.sub.0,3] of FIG. 7, orders authorizing and specifying
the terms and conditions associated with the work are agreed upon
by the buyer, B.sub.b, and the suppliers S.sub.6, S.sub.7 and
S.sub.8. The orders in FIG. 7 are designated [PO.sub.0,0S.sub.0],
[PO.sub.x,1S.sub.2, PO.sub.1,2S.sub.3, PO.sub.1,3S.sub.5] and
[PO.sub.x+1,1S.sub.6, PO.sub.0,2S.sub.7, PO.sub.0,3S.sub.8].
[0066] In a semiconductor manufacturing environment, the I.sub.3
input is a wafer lot and the processing stages are typically Fab,
Wafer Sort, Assembly and Final Test each performed by a supplier
and typically the different suppliers [S.sub.0], [S.sub.2 and
S.sub.6], [S.sub.3 and S.sub.7] and [S.sub.5 and S.sub.8],
respectively. The work at each of the processing stages of Fab,
Wafer Sort, Assembly and Final Test is authorized and controlled by
the orders [PO.sub.0,0S.sub.0], [PO.sub.x,1S.sub.2,
PO.sub.1,2S.sub.3, PO.sub.1,3S.sub.5] and [PO.sub.x+1,1S.sub.6,
PO.sub.0,2S.sub.7, PO.sub.0,3S.sub.8]. The output from the stage
P.sub.0,0 is split and is represented by [.sub.1G.sub.0,0 and
.sub.2G.sub.0,0]. The outputs from the stages [P.sub.x,1,
P.sub.1,2, P.sub.1,3] are represented by [G.sub.x,1, G.sub.1,2,
O.sub.3], respectively. The outputs from the stages [P.sub.x+1,1,
P.sub.0,2, P.sub.0,3] are represented by [G.sub.x+1,1, G.sub.0,2,
O.sub.4], respectively.
[0067] In FIG. 7, the sets ofpurchase orders [PO.sub.0,0S.sub.0],
[PO.sub.x,1S.sub.2, PO.sub.1,2S.sub.3, PO.sub.1,3S.sub.5] and
[PO.sub.x+1,1S.sub.6, PO.sub.0,2S.sub.7, PO.sub.0,3S.sub.8] relate
to interdependent work steps. The output, O.sub.3, is only obtained
when all of the orders [PO.sub.0,0S.sub.0] and [PO.sub.x,1S.sub.2,
PO.sub.1,2S.sub.3, PO.sub.1,3S.sub.5] have been executed according
to their terms and in the sequence from the most upstream order to
the most downstream order. The output, O.sub.4, is only obtained
when all of the orders [PO.sub.0,0S.sub.0] and
[PO.sub.x+1,1S.sub.6, PO.sub.0,2S.sub.7, PO.sub.0,3S.sub.8] have
been executed according to their terms and in the sequence from the
most upstream order to the most downstream order. Further each of
the subset order sequences [PO.sub.x,1S.sub.2, PO.sub.1,2S.sub.3,
PO.sub.1,3S.sub.5] and [PO.sub.x+1,1S.sub.6, PO.sub.0,2S.sub.7,
PO.sub.0,3S.sub.8] are interdependent in that they both drive from
the parent order [PO.sub.0,0S.sub.0].
[0068] In the FIG. 7 purchase order set, each of the suppliers
receives "current" and accurate information from upstream suppliers
through use of communications over the Internet. The "current"
information helps to reduce supply chain escalation of over
requirements. The FIG. 7 sequences indicate the complexity that
arises among suppliers in a multistage supply chain typical of
outsourcing in the semiconductor manufacturing industry when only a
single buyer, B.sub.b is considered.
[0069] FIG. 8 depicts a supply chain management system 1 operating
in an environment of multiple buyers (B) 3 including buyers
(B.sub.0, B.sub.1, . . . , B.sub.b, . . . , B.sub.B) 3-1, 3-2, . .
. 3-b, . . . , 3-B and multiple suppliers (S) 7 including suppliers
(S.sub.0, S.sub.1, . . . , S.sub.S) 7-1, 7-2, . . . , 7S in a
supply chain. The buyers 3 and suppliers 7 are connected to a
multi-stage, multi-lot processor 8' that is one embodiment of the
global processor 8 of FIG. 1. In FIG. 8, the buyer B.sub.b is
typical of all the buyers B.sub.0, B.sub.1, . . . , B.sub.b, . . .
, B.sub.B and buyer B.sub.b places orders and receives goods and
services from a multistage supply chain P{B.sub.b} 4-b. The
multistage supply chain P{B.sub.b} is like any of the multistage
supply chains described in connection with FIG. 1 through FIG. 7.
For the semiconductor manufacturing industry, the multistage supply
chain P{B.sub.b} includes a plurality of stages P.sub.bx organized
functionally, for example, into Fab, Wafer Sort, Assembly and Final
Test stages. The stages P.sub.bx are like any of the stages
described in connection with FIG. 1 through FIG. 7. The single
buyer B.sub.b is typical and more generally all the buyers B.sub.0,
B.sub.1, . . . , B.sub.b, . . . , B.sub.B are associated with
multistage supply chains P{B.sub.0}, P{B.sub.1}, . . . ,
P{B.sub.b}, . . . , P{B.sub.B}, respectively. The stages P.sub.bx
for any particular one of the supply chains P{B.sub.0}, P{B.sub.1},
. . . , P{B.sub.b}, . . . , P{B.sub.B} maybe same as or different
from the stages P.sub.bx for any other ones of the supply chains
P{B.sub.0}, P{B.sub.1}, . . . , P{B.sub.b}, . . . , P{B.sub.B}.
FIG. 8 indicates the great complexity of the supply chain
environment for multiple buyers and multiple suppliers common in
many industries such as the semiconductor manufacturing
industry.
[0070] FIG. 9 depicts a hardware block diagram of a computer system
network for the supply chain management system of FIG. 1. In FIG.
9, the CLIENT(BUYER/SUPPLIER) 91-1, the CLIENT(BUYER/SUPPLIER) 91-2
and the CLIENT(BUYER/SUPPLIER) 91-C connect over INTERNET 99 to
MULTI-STAGE, MULTI-LOT PROCESSOR 8 and particularlyto the SWITCH
92. The SWITCH 92 functions to switch incoming and outgoing traffic
between the LOAD BALANCER 93-1 and the LOAD BALANCER 93-2. The LOAD
BALANCER 93-1 and the LOAD BALANCER 93-2 connect between the SWITCH
94-1 and the SWITCH 94-2. The SWITCH 94-1 and the SWITCH 94-2
connect to the APPLICATION SERVER 95-1 and the APPLICATION SERVER
95-2. The APPLICATION SERVER 95-1 and the APPLICATION SERVER 95-2
execute programs for performing supply chain management in the
multiple buyer, multiple supplier environment. The APPLICATION
SERVER 95-1 and the APPLICATION SERVER 95-2 connect through DATA
SERVER 96-1 and DATA SERVER 96-2 to the DISK ARRAY 97 which
includes the disks MAIL 97-1, DATABASE 97-2 and LOG-IN 97-3. The
processor 8 of FIG. 9 includes two-way redundancy for providing
highly reliable and highly available supply chain management
services to the buyers and suppliers that are the clients in the
network.
[0071] FIG. 10 depicts a software block diagram for the supply
chain management system of FIG. 1. In FIG. 9, the CLIENT
(BUYER/SUPPLIER) 91-1, the CLIENT (BUYER/SUPPLIER) 91-2 and the
CLIENT (BUYER/SUPPLIER) 91-C connect over INTERNET 99 to
MULTI-STAGE, MULTI-LOT PROCESSOR 8 and particularly to the
SECURITY/SWITCH 92'. The SECURITY/SWITCH 92' functions to perform
security checks on the internet traffic and to switch incoming and
outgoing traffic between the WEB 98-1 and the BUSINESS LOGIC 98-2
executing in the PROCESS SERVERS 95'. The WEB 98-1 and the BUSINESS
LOGIC 98-2 and the APPLICATION SERVER 95-2 connect to the DATA
SERVER 97' which includes MAIL 97'-1, DATABASE 97'-2 and LOG-IN
97-3 functions. The WEB 98-1 process functions are primarily for
real-time interactive communications between the DATA SERVER 97'
and CLIENTs 91-1, 91-2, . . . , 91-C. The BUSINESS LOGIC 98-2 is
primarily for performing the operations necessary for supply chain
management services in the multiple buyer, multiple supplier
environment. The BUSINESS LOGIC 98-2 is logic means for accessing
master information for executing supply chain management functions
for the clients to provide management data.
[0072] FIG. 11 depicts a CORRELATION PROCESSOR 98'-2 for
correlating input and output information among clients. The
correlation is among the local and fragmented information that is
different for each client. In the particular embodiment of FIG. 11,
the CORRELATION PROCESSOR 98'-2 performs mapping and data integrity
processing in connection with the supply chain management. In FIG.
11, the CLIENTs 91-1, 91-2, . . . , 91-C connect over INTERNET 99
to the CORRELATION PROCESSOR 98'-2. The CORRELATION PROCESSOR 98'-2
is part of the BUSINESS LOGIC 98-2 of FIG. 10. The MESSAGE FILE
CONNECTOR 88-1 functions using conventional internet protocols
(httpRobot, ftpRobot, ftpServer) for incoming and outgoing
communications over the INTERNET 99. The FILE MONITOR 88-2 detects
the file format and makes conventional conversion to comma
separated values (for example, flat2csv, x1s2csv). The CONVERTER
88-3 converts the csv values to an xml format as an input to the
INPUT MAPPER 88-4. The INPUT MAPPER 88-4 functions to map the local
property values inherent in the input data to master property
values defined by the supply chain management system. The INPUT
MAPPER 88-4 accesses the PROPERTY TABLES in the DATABASE 97'-2 to
do the mapping. After mapping, the mapped raw input data is
converted in CONVERTER 88-5 from an xml format to a database format
(xml TO db) and stored in the RAW DATA store 88-71. The mapped raw
input data is then processed in the DATA INTEGRITY UNIT 88-6
including the Data Checking unit 88-6, and the Data Cleansing
88-62. The checked and cleaned processed input data is stored The
checked and cleaned raw data is processed in the PROCESS DATA UNIT
98 and the processed data is stored in the PROCESSED DATA store
88-72. Any of the raw data in the RAW DATA store 88-71 or the
processed data in the PROCESSED DATA store 88-72 can be
communicated to the CLIENTs 91-1, 91-2 and 91-C using the OUTPUT
MAPPER 88-8 to map the output data to the form expected by the
client. The OUTPUT MAPPER 88-8 functions to map the master property
information defined by the supply chain management system to the
local property information of the type and form used by clients as
revealed in the input data from clients. The OUTPUT MAPPER 88-8 is
an output mapping means for mapping management data to local data
for clients. The OUTPUT MAPPER 88-8 accesses the PROPERTY TABLES in
the DATABASE 97'-2 to do the mapping.
[0073] Different buyers, such as Fabless semiconductor companies,
frequently require different information from their suppliers'
daily or other reports. Often suppliers can provide only one format
for these reports to all of their buyers due to the constraints in
their computer systems. To bridge this information gap, the supply
chain management system uses a database schema which provides a
master property table holding a super set of information for all
the clients (buyers and suppliers) using the system. When the
buyers and suppliers send their records, reports and inquiries to
the supply chain management system, the data are mapped into the
master database schema.
[0074] A client-specific property file is created to describe the
client-specific ("local") data for each client. In one embodiment,
MicroSoft BizTalk is used to generate a schema.biz and mapper.biz
to define the mapping between a client's local data and the master
database schema. Then, a JAVA class, CSV2XML, is applied to convert
these data reports from .DBF, .XLS or .CSV format into XML format
files based on the description in the corresponding local property
files. The XML style sheet file, .XSL, generated by the mapper.biz
and the JAVA class, XML2DB, are used to convert the report data
into the final format to be imported into the master table of the
database.
[0075] The master table can be in any form including indexed files,
linked sub-tables, linked lists, among others. The following TABLE
Iis an example of a master property table where the column "Field
Name" represents the master table name and the column "Description"
briefly describes the general use of the Field Name. TABLE 1 is
representative of a master table and is not intended to be
exhaustive. Other fields are added as the need arises.
1TABLE 1 Copyright 2002 GetSilicon, Inc. Field Name Description 1
Actual Charge Charge for Units actually delivered as Final Product
2 Actual Qty Quantity of Units actually delivered as Final Product
3 Back Issue Die Qty Back Issued Die Qty 4 Base Lot Derived Base
Lot number from the lot genealogy specification 5 Bin Physical bin
location 6 Completed Date Date on which the manufacturing process
completes 7 Completed Die Qty Number of dies completed in the
processing 8 Completed Qty Number of Units completed in the
processing 9 Completed Wafer Qty Number of wafers completed in the
processing 10 Date Code Code to designate the manufacturing date of
product 11 Description Description of process parameters 12 Device
Type Type of device 13 Down Grade Qty Number of Units being
downgraded to lower specs after production 14 Est Amount Estimated
finished goods amount 15 Est_FG_Date Estimated finished goods date
16 Est_FG_Qty Estimated finished goods quantity 17 Estimate
Complete Date Revised completion date based on the current process
information 18 ETA Date Date of estimated time of arrival 19 Good
Unit Qty Number of good Units 20 Gross Ship Weight Gross weight as
shipped 21 Hold Date Date Hold starts 22 Hold Qty Number of Units
on hold 23 I_No Identification number for product 24 Invoice Date
Invoice created date 25 Invoice No Invoice number 26 Lot No Number
for Client derived from Base Lot number 27 Net Shipping Weight Net
weight as shipped 28 Notes Special instructions and details 29
Order Confirm Date Date order confirmed 30 Order Date Date on which
the production order is issued 31 Order Qty Quantity ordered 32
Order Req Date Date order requested 33 Ordered Die Qty Ordered die
qty 34 Ordered Wafer Qty Ordered wafer qty 35 Part No Part number
36 PO No Purchase Order number 37 PO Rev No Revolution of PO No 38
Process Name of detailed process used by Supplier 39 Production
Order No Number for production order 40 Received Date Date on which
Units are received 41 Received Die Qty Number of die received for
the manufacturing process 42 Received Qty Number of Units received
43 Received Wafer Qty Number of wafer received for the
manufacturing process 44 Return Code Code used to make a return 45
Return Order No Number used to make a return 45 Return Qty Number
of Units returned 46 Routing Name of stage, such as Fab, Wafer
Sort, Assembly, Final Test 47 Routing Status Status such as
scheduled, started, active, hold, completed or shipped 48 Scrap Qty
Number of Units being scraped 49 Return Qty Number of Units being
returned 50 Ship Cost Shipping cost 51 Ship Date Date of current
shipment 52 Ship Qty Unit quantity in the current shipment 53 Ship
Dimension Dimension of packed shipment 54 Ship Line No Number on
shipping package 55 Ship To Destination client 56 Ship Via Carrier
name 57 Shipping Notice No Number on shipping package 58 Start Date
Date on which the processing begins 59 Start Qty Number of Units
when the processing starts 60 Sup Supplier name 61 Topmark Topmark
visible on top of finished goods 62 Unit Unit type such as Wafer,
Die 63 Unit Price Unit price per Unit 64 Weighted Completed Date
Weighted completed date, based on the quantity 65 Weighted Received
Date Weighted received date, based on the quantity 66 Weighted Ship
Date Weighted ship date, based on the quantity 67 Weighted Start
Date Weighted start date, based on the quantity 68 WIP Die Qty
Number of dies that is active in the production process 69 WIP
Wafer Qty Number of wafers that is active in the production process
70 WO No Work Order No 71 WO Rev No Work Order Rev 72 Yield Output
over input (in percent)
[0076] The following TABLE 2, TABLE 3 and TABLE 4 are examples of
the master property table and the corresponding local client
information mapping. In TABLE 2, the column "Field Name" represents
the master table information, the column "Buyer 1" represents a
buyer client local client information of a buyer and the columns
"Fab1", "Wafer Sort1", "Assembly1" and "Test1" represent local
client information of four suppliers representing different stages
of semiconductor manufacturing.
[0077] In TABLE 3, the column "Field Name" represents the master
table information, the column "Buyer1" represents local client
information of a buyer and the columns "Wafer Sort1 " and "Wafer
Sort2" represent local client information of two suppliers
representing the same Wafer Sort stage of semiconductor
manufacturing.
[0078] In TABLE 4, the column "Field Name" represents the master
table information, the column "Buyer1" represents a buyer client
local client information of a buyer and the columns "Assembly1",
"Assembly2" and "Assembly3" represent local client information of
two suppliers representing the same Assembly stage of semiconductor
manufacturing. Certain ones of the fields in TABLE 1 derive
directly from client fields while others are derived as a result of
processing.
[0079] Examples of derived fields include:
[0080] 1) Base Lot. A derived number used for tracking the lot
genealogy for a buyer through all suppliers.
[0081] 2) In-Date. A derived date that is the earliest date
associated with any transaction at a client, for example, the
earlier of the Received Date and the Start Date.
[0082] 3) Out-Date. The latest date associated with any transaction
at a client, for example, the later of the Complete Date and the
Ship Date.
[0083] 4) The term Qty generally means quantities that have been
accumulated to show totals for one or more transactions or parts of
a transaction.
[0084] 5) The term Weighted refers to dates weighted by quantity.
For example, for 100 pcs received on Jun. 5, 2002 0:0:0 and 200 pcs
received on Jun. 6, 2002 0:0:0, the Weighed Received Date is:
(date1*qty1+date2*qty2)/(qty1+qty2), the Weighted Received Date is:
Jun. 5, 2002 18:0:0.
[0085] 6) Est_FG_Date. The estimated finished good date, the date
which the current material will be available as finished goods. The
Est_FG_Date is calculated based on the standard cycle time of each
stage (routing).
[0086] 7) Est_FG_Qty. The estimated finish good quantity, the
expected quantity which the current material becomes the final
finish goods. The Est_FG_Qty is calculated based on the expected
Yield of each stage.
[0087] 8) Yield. Determined as the ratio Output Qty/Input Qty.
[0088] The derived fields are only by way of example as any number
of additional derived fields may be added as the need arises.
2TABLE 2 # Field Name Buyer1 Fab1 Wafer Sort1 Assembly1 Test1 1
Shipping Notice PackageNO Invoice Number Reference_No Packing No
Reference No No 2 PO No Customer PO 3 PO Rev No 4 WO No Work Order
No Work Order WO Number Po No No 5 WO Rev No Work Order Rev 6 Order
Line No Order Line No 7 Device Type Device 8 Part No Part Num Part
No. Part Num Part No 9 I_No I_No Customer Product No Device 10 Bin
BIN BIN 11 Lot No CM Lot No Fab1 Lot ID Lot No. Lot No Lot No 12
Description 13 Order Date 14 Order Qty 15 Order Req Date 16 Order
Confirm Date 17 UM 18 Ship Line No Package NO Item N 19 Ship Date
PACKAGE Date Date Date Date 20 ETA Date 21 Ship Wafer Qty Qty Ship
Qty Wafer QTY Qty1 Shipping QTY 22 Ship Die Qty Good Die Qty QTY
Qty2 23 Ship To Ship To Ship to To Location 24 Ship Via VIA via 25
Gross Ship Weight G.W 26 Net Shipping N.W Weight 27 Ship Dimension
Dimension 28 Ship Cost 29 Invoice Date invoice created date invoice
date inv date 30 Invoice No Invoice No Invoice No Invoice No
Invoice No Invoice No 31 Notes 32 Date code Date Code 33 Return
Order No 34 Return Code
[0089]
3TABLE 3 # Field Name Buyer1 Wafer Sort1 Wafer Sort2 1 Shipping
Notice No Package NO Reference_No F_SHIP_NO 2 PO No 3 PO Rev No 4
WO No Work Order No Work Order No F_RELEASE_NO 5 WO Rev No Work
Order Rev 6 Order Line No F_RELEASE_NO 7 Device Type Device Wafer 8
Part No Part Num Part No. F_CUST_PN 9 I_No I_NO 10 Bin BIN 11 Lot
No CM Lot No Lot No. F_CUST_LOT_NO 12 Description 13 Order Date 14
Order Qty 15 Order Req Date 16 Order Confirm Date 17 Unit 18 Ship
Line No Package NO 19 Ship Date PACKAGE Date Date F_MODIFY_DATE 20
ETA Date 21 Ship Wafer Qty Qty Wafer Shipping QTY F_PIECES 22 Ship
Die Qty Good Die Qty F_GOOD_DIES 23 Ship To F_SHIP_TO 24 Ship Via
25 Gross Ship Weight 26 Net Shipping Weight 27 Ship Dimension 28
Ship Cost 29 Invoice Date invoice created date 30 Invoice No
Invoice No Invoice No Invoice No 31 Notes 32 Date code 33 Return
Order No 34 Return Code
[0090]
4TABLE 4 # Field Name Assembly1 Assembly2 Assembly3 1 Shipping
Package NO Packing No SHIPMENT NO Notice No 2 PO No 3 PO Rev No 4
WO No WO Num WO Number P.O.NUM 5 WO Rev No WO Rev Num 6 Order Line
No Order Line No 7 Device Type Device Type Device DEVICE 8 Part No
Part No Part Num 9 I_No 10 Bin 11 Lot No Lot No Lot No LOT NUM 12
Description 13 Order Date 14 Order Qty Qty 15 Order Req Date 16
Order Confirm Date 17 Unit 18 Ship Line No Item 19 Ship Date ETA
Date ETD 20 ETA Date ETD ETA 21 Ship Wafer Qty QTY 22 Ship Die Qty
QTY QTY 23 Ship To Ship to Loc Ship to Location 24 Ship Via VIA VIA
FORWARDER 25 Gross Ship G.W G.W WEIGHT Weight 26 Net Shipping N.W
N.W Weight 27 Ship Dimension Dimension 28 Ship Cost 29 Invoice Date
30 Invoice No Invoice Date invoice date 31 Notes Invoice No Invoice
No Invoice No 32 Date code 33 Return Order No 34 Return Code
[0091] One program for implementing the mapping described is
presented in the following TABLE 5.
5TABLE 5 Copyright 2002 GetSilicon, Inc. <xsl:stylesheet
xmlns:xsl=`http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Tran- sform`
xmlns:msxsl=`urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt` xmlns:var=`urn:var`
xmlns:user=`urn:user` exclude-result-prefixes=`msxsl var user`
version=`1.0`> <xsl:output method=`xml` encoding=`UTF-8`
indent=`yes` omit-xml-declaration=`yes`/> <xsl:template
match=`/`> <xsl:apply-templates select=`INSERT`/>
</xsl:template> <xsl:template match=`INSERT`>
<INSERT> <xsl:for-each select=`ROWSET_shipHEADER`>
<ROWSET_SHIPHEADER> <xsl:for-each
select=`ROW_shipHEADER`> <ROW_SHIPHEADER> <!--
Connection from source node "ToID" to destination node "BUYER"
--> <BUYER><xsl:value-of select=`ToID/text(
)`/></BUYER> <!-- Connection from source node "FromID"
to destination node "SUPPLIER" -->
<SUPPLIER><xsl:value-of select=`FromID/text(
)`/><SUPPLIER> <!-- Connection from source node
"reportDate" to destination node "REPORTDATE" -->
<REPORTDATE><xsl:value-of select=`reportDate/text(
)`/></REPORTDATE> <!-- Connection from source node
"tDate" to destination node "TDATE" -->
<TDATE><xsl:value-of select=`tDate/text(
)`/></TDATE> <!-- Connection from source node
"fileName" to destination node "FILENAME" -->
<FILENAME><xsl:value-of select=`fileName/text(
)`/></FILENAME> <!-- Connection from source node
"fileSize" to destination node "FILESIZE" -->
<FILESIZE><xsl:value-of select=`fileSize/text(
)`/></FILESIZE> <!-- Connection from source node
"RecordSize" to destination node "RECORDSIZE" -->
<RECORDSIZE><xsl:value-of
select=`ancestor::*[2]/RecordSize/text- (
)`/></RECORDSIZE> <!-- Connection from source node
"ROW_shipHEADER" to destination node "ROW_SHIPHEADER" -->
<xsl:value-of select=`./text( )`/> </ROW_SHIPHEADER>
</xsl:for-each> <!-- Connection from source node
"ROWSET_shipHEADER" to destination node "ROWSET_SHIPHEADER" -->
<xsl:value-of select=`./text( )`/> </ROWSET_SHIPHEADER>
</xsl:for-each> <xsl:for-each select=`shipITEM`>
<SHIPITEM> <xsl:for-each select=`ROWSET_ship1`>
<ROWSET_SHIP1> <xsl:for-each select=`ROW_ship1`>
<ROW_SHIP1> <!-- Connection from source node "LineNumber"
to destination node "LINENUMBER" -->
<LINENUMBER><xsl:value-of select=`LineNumber/text(
)`/></LINENUMBER> <!-- Connection from source node
"PO_NO" to destination node "ORDERNO" -->
<ORDERNO><xsl:value-of select=`PO_NO/text(
)`/></ORDERNO> <!-- Connection from source node
"SHP_PRD_NO" to destination node "PARTNO" -->
<PARTNO><xsl:value-of select=`SHP_PRD_NO/text(
)`/></PARTNO> <!-- Connection from source node
"ORD_QTY" to destination node "ORDERQTY" -->
<ORDERQTY><xsl:value-of select=`ORD_QTY/text(
)`/></ORDERQTY> <!-- Connection from source node
"REQ_DATE" to destination node "ORDERREQDATE" -->
<ORDERREQDATE><xsl:value-of select=`REQ_DATE/text(
)`/></ORDERREQDATE> <!-- Connection from source node
"SHIP_DATE" to destination node "SHIPDATE" -->
<SHIPDATE><xsl:value-of select=`SHIP_DATE/text(
)`/></SHIPDATE> <!-- Connection from source node
"SHIP_QTY" to destination node "WAFERQTY" -->
<WAFERQTY><xsl:value-of select=`SHIP_QTY/text(
)`/></WAFERQTY> <!-- Connection from source node
"LAST_DATE" to destination node "INVOICEDATE" -->
<INVOICEDATE><xsl:value-of select=`LAST_DATE/text(
)`/></INVOICEDATE> <!-- Connection from source node
"SO_NO" to destination node "INVOICENO" -->
<INVOICENO><xsl:value-of select=`SO_NO/text(
)`/></INVOICENO> <!-- Connection from source node
"REMARK" to destination node "NOTES" -->
<NOTES><xsl:value-of select=`REMARK/text(
)`/></NOTES> <!-- Connection from source node
"ROW_ship1" to destination node "ROW_SHIP1" --> <xsl:value-of
select=`./text( )`/> </ROW_SHIP1> </xsl:for-each>
<!-- Connection from source node "ROWSET_ship1" to destination
node "ROWSET_SHIP1" --> <xsl:value-of select=`./text( )`/>
</ROWSET_SHIP1> </xsl:for-each> <xsl:for-each
select=`ROWSET_shipMEMOS`> <ROWSET_SHIPMEMOS>
<xsl:for-each select=`ROW_shipMEMOS`> <ROW_SHIPMEMOS>
<!-- Connection from source node "MEMONAME" to destination node
"MEMONAME" --> <MEMONAME><xsl:value-of
select=`MEMONAME/text( )`/></MEMONAME> <!-- Connection
from source node "MEMO" to destination node "MEMO" -->
<MEMO><xsl:value-of select=`MEMO/text(
)`/></MEMO> <!-- Connection from source node
"ROW_shipMEMOS" to destination node "ROW_SHIPMEMOS" -->
<xsl:value-of select=`./text( )`/> <ROW_SHIPMEMOS>
</xsl:for-each> <!-- Connection from source node
"ROWSET_shipMEMOS" to destination node "ROWSET_SHIPMEMOS" -->
<xsl:value-of select=`./text( )`/> </ROWSET_SHIPMEMOS>
</xsl:for-each> <!-- Connection from source node
"shipITEM" to destination node "SHIPITEM" --> <xsl:value-of
select=`./text( )`/> </SHIPITEM> </xsl:for-each>
</INSERT> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet>
[0092] After the input data has been mapped and stored as raw data
as described above and in connection with TABLE 2, TABLE 3, TABLE 4
and TABLE 5, the mapped raw input data is then processed in the
DATA INTEGRITY UNIT 88-6 including the Data Checking unit 88-6, and
the Data Cleansing 88-62 to improve the quality of the raw
data.
[0093] One of the significant barriers to efficient supply chain
management is poor data quality. A large amount of the data is
provided by suppliers for Fabless semiconductor buyers. The buyers
and suppliers (together clients of the supply chain management
system) are connected in common over the Internet and the suppliers
supply local supplier information to said system via electronic
records and reports. A record is a single entry at one time and
reports reflect accumulated data from a number of records or other
reports. The data integrity unit of FIG. 11 operates to process the
raw data to obtain clean processed data. The clean processed data
is checked for consistency with buyer's original local information
as well as the local information provided by all the other
suppliers in the supply chain.
[0094] The data integrity processing is divided into five
parts:
[0095] Part 1. Data Consistency Within a Record.
[0096] Part 2. Data Consistency Within a Report.
[0097] Part 3. Data Consistency Across Different Reports from a
Particular Supplier.
[0098] Part 4. Data Consistency Between Supplier and Buyer
Data.
[0099] Part 5. Data Consistency Between Suppliers.
[0100] In connection with the different parts, the data relates to
WIP (Work In Progress) Reports, activity-based Transaction Reports
(TR) including Daily Transaction Reports (DTR), Orders including
Purchase Orders (PO) and Work Orders (WO), Shipment Reports and
Invoices.
[0101] For each of Part 1 to Part 5, cleansing is performed for
Static Data Consistency and for Dynamic Data Consistency. By way of
example, for Static Data Consistency, in a PO, the Lot No, and Part
No are checked for consistency. By way of example, for Dynamic Data
Consistency, Date Sequence, Quantity Sequence and Routing Sequence
are checked.
[0102] In connection with Part 1, Data Consistency Within a Record,
typically the following are checked:
[0103] 1. Required Field Missing.
[0104] 2. Date Sequence Check. For example, the sequence ordered
date<=received date<=start date<=completed
date<=shipped date is checked where "<=" means "is earlier
than".
[0105] 3. Quantity Sequence Check. For example, the sequence
received qty.gtoreq.start qty.gtoreq.completed qty.gtoreq.shipped
qty is checked where ".gtoreq." means "is greater than or equal
to".
[0106] 4. Date out of Reasonable Range. For example, (current
date-start date) is too large and estimated completion date is
before the current date.
[0107] 5. Quantity out of Reasonable Range. For example, scrap or
downgrade quantity too big.
[0108] 6. Status of a Lot Inconsistent with WIP Quantity.
[0109] 7. Data Dictionary Check. Key data is included and
cross-referenced. For example, device is not found in device master
table, item number is not found in item master table, WIP status
key word is not conformed to the pre-defined specification. A
master dictionary for each type of data is stored in the master
table to enable checking to be performed.
[0110] As an example in connection with Part 2, Data Consistency
Within a Report, the following are checked:
[0111] 1. Duplicated Data Check. For example, the same lot appears
in more than one record in a WIP or the same transaction appears
twice in a DTR.
[0112] 2. Date Sequence Error. For example, complete-out before
receive-in transaction in DTR.
[0113] 3. Status Sequence Error. For example, status sequence
should be: (scheduled)<(active or hold)<(completed or
closed)<(ship or closed) where "<" means prior to.
[0114] As an example in connection with Part 3, Data Consistency
Across Different Reports from a Particular Supplier, the following
are checked:
[0115] 1. Data Content Inconsistency. For example, device or item
has no changes for the same lot at a different date.
[0116] 2. Quantity Inconsistency. For example, total quantity
(WIP+scrap+warehouse) changes for the same lot on a different
date.
[0117] 3. Date Inconsistency. For example, start date or completion
date changes for the same lot.
[0118] 4. WIP Movement Error. For example, a lot has been completed
then moves back to WIP.
[0119] 5. Status Sequence Error. For example, a lot moves to
complete before becomes active.
[0120] 6. Abnormally Long Cycle Time.
[0121] 7. Abnormally Low Yield.
[0122] As an example in connection with Part 4, Data Consistency
Between Supplier and Buyer's Data, the following are checked:
[0123] 1. Date Sequence Error. For example, a downstream supplier
received before the upstream supplier shipped.
[0124] 2. WIP Movement Error. For example, the same lot appears at
two different suppliers at the same time.
[0125] 3. Status Sequence Error
[0126] 4. Abnormal Long Cycle Time
[0127] 5. Shipped but Not Received
[0128] 6. Shipped Quantity Does Not Equal Received Quantity
[0129] As an example in connection with Part 5, Data Consistency
Between Suppliers, the following are checked:
[0130] 1. Consistency Between Purchase Order and Work Order. For
example, device and item no should be consistent; sum of work order
cost should be equal or less than the blanket purchase order
amount.
[0131] 2. Consistency Between WIP and Production Order. For
example, Production Order No, Device, Item No, and Qty in WIP
should match with the production order information.
[0132] 3. Consistent Between DTR and Production Order. For example,
production order no, device, item no, and qty in DTR should match
with the production order information.
[0133] 4. Consistency Between WIP and DTR. For example, the
difference in WIP between the two consecutive dates should be equal
to amounts shown in DTR.
[0134] 5. Consistency Between DTR and Shipment Report.
[0135] 6. Consistency Between DTR and Inventory. For example, the
Inventory report should be equal to the results obtained by the
cumulative DTR.
[0136] FIG. 12 depicts one example of a multiple supplier branch in
a supply chain transaction where after the Wafer Sort stage by
supplier testa, the Assembly stage for a lot is distributed to
three suppliers, namely pkgk, pkgz and pkgftp.
[0137] In FIG. 12, the Raw Material is an input to the Fab stage at
supplier fabc and Lot No T0239A is assigned. When the Fab stage
work is complete, a Wafer Shipping Notice is issued and the wafers
are delivered for the Wafer Sort stage to supplier testa for the
Lot No T0239A. When the Wafer Sort stage work is complete, a Sorted
Wafer Shipping Notice is issued and the scribed wafers are
delivered for the Assembly stage to Assembly supplier pkgk with Lot
No T0239A-1 assigned, are delivered for the Assembly and Final Test
stages to Assembly & Final Test supplier pkgz and Lot No
T0239A-2 is assigned, and delivered for the Assembly and Final Test
stages to Assembly & Final Test supplier pkgftp and Lot No
T0239A-3 is assigned. When the Assembly supplier pkgk with Lot No
T0239A-1 completes the packaging, a Assembled Die Shipping Notice
is issued and the packaged devices are delivered for the Final Test
stage to the Final Test supplier pkgftp with Lot No T0239A-1
retained. When the Final Test supplier pkgftp finishes the Final
Test on Lot No T0239A-1, the Finished Goods are available. When the
Final Test supplier pkgz finishes the Final Test on Lot No
T0239A-2, the Finished Goods are available. When the Final Test
supplier pkgftp and finishes the Final Test on Lot No T0239A-3, the
Finished Goods are available.
[0138] FIG. 13 depicts cross supplier error checking in the example
of FIG. 12. The Wafer Sort stage supplier testa for the Lot No
T0239A-2 has an Out Date, indicated by 2* in FIG. 13, of Feb. 28,
2002 where the designated supplier is pkgz. The supplier pkgz for
the Lot No T0239A-2, however, has an In Date, indicated by 2* in
FIG. 13, of Jan. 28, 2002 which of course is an error since the
goods could not have been received by pkgz before they were shipped
by testa. This error is detected by the DATA INTEGRITY UNIT 88-6 of
FIG. 11.
[0139] In FIG. 13, the Assembly stage supplier pkgk for the Lot No
T0239A-1 has a QTY/die Out quantity, indicated by 1* in FIG. 13, of
3200 where the designated supplier is pkgftp. The supplier pkgftp
for the Lot No T0239A-1, however, has a QTY/die In quantity,
indicated by 1* in FIG. 13, of 4200 which of course is an error
since more goods could not have been received by pkgftp then were
shipped by pkgk. This error is detected by the DATA INTEGRITY UNIT
88-6 of FIG. 11.
[0140] FIG. 14 depicts one example of a lot tracking report. Lot
Tracking is executed by the BUSINESS LOGIC 98-2 of FIG. 10 to store
detailed information related to a lot in the production supply
chain. The information tracked in the lot tracking has two
categorizes as follows:
[0141] Category 1. Static Data: where the data are fixed during the
manufacturing processes.
[0142] Category 2. Dynamic Data: where the data can be changed
during the manufacturing processes.
[0143] The Static Data includes:
[0144] a) Lot number,
[0145] b) Part no,
[0146] c) Purchase order no,
[0147] d) Production order no,
[0148] e) Date code,
[0149] f) Supplier,
[0150] g) Routing,
[0151] h) Order date,
[0152] i) Order Qty,
[0153] j) Unit Price,
[0154] The Dynamic Data includes two main parts, namely, Date
Information and Qty Information where they have the following
subparts:
[0155] a) Date Information:
[0156] 1) Received date
[0157] 2) Start date
[0158] 3) Hold date
[0159] 4) Completed date
[0160] 5) Ship date
[0161] b) Qty Information
[0162] 1) Received Qty
[0163] 2) Returned Qty
[0164] 3) Start Qty
[0165] 4) Hold Qty
[0166] 5) Completed Qty
[0167] 6) Good part Qty
[0168] 7) Scrap part Qty
[0169] 8) Downgrade Qty
[0170] 9) Ship Qty
[0171] Lot tracking records the flow of a lot by keeping its
genealogy in order to track the lot history. These records include
a parent-child relationship for the unsplit lots and include a
sibling relationship for split lots. Lot tracking information is
loaded, for example, using WIP or DTR information. Lot tracking
keeps a complete and consistent data set for all the production and
finance related information in one central place, that is, in the
97'-2 of FIG. 11. With this common repository of lot information
for the entire supply chain, performance checking (such as cycle
time and yield analysis) and detailed cost reports down to the lot
details are provided supply chain management system.
[0172] In lot tracking and as shown in the FIG. 14, the supply
chain management system assigns a Base Lot number to every lot. In
FIG. 14, that Base Lot number is N 1805 and a Lot No related to the
Base Lot number is also kept so that the routing to and local
identification for each of the suppliers is recorded in the lot
tracking information. The particular Base Lot number N1805 of FIG.
14 has a ROUTE that traces the sequence Fab at supplier fabc with
Base Lot number N 1805, Wafer Sort at supplier testa with Base Lot
number N1805, Assembly at supplier pkgk with Lot No N18058 and
Final Test at supplier pkgftp with Lot No N18058.1, with Lot No
N18058.2 and with Lot No N18058.3.
[0173] FIG. 15 depicts a first cross supplier lot tracking example.
In FIG. 15, the Raw Material is an input to the Fab stage at
supplier fabc and Lot No N1805 is assigned. When work at the Fab
stage is complete, a Wafer Shipping Notice is issued and the wafers
are delivered for the Wafer Sort supplier testa for the Lot No
N1805. When the Wafer Sort stage work is complete, a Sorted Wafer
Shipping Notice is issued and the sorted wafers are delivered for
the Assembly stage to Assembly supplier pkgk with Lot No N1805S
assigned. When the Assembly supplier pkgk with Lot No N1805S
completes the packaging, an Assembled Die Shipping Notice is issued
and the packaged devices are delivered for the Final Test stage to
the Final Test supplier pkgftp with Lot No N1805S.1, Lot No
N1805S.2 and Lot No N1805S.3 assigned. When the Final Test supplier
pkgftp finishes the Final Test on Lot No N1805S.1, Lot No N1805S.2
and Lot No N1805S.3, the Finished Goods are available for each of
those lots.
[0174] FIG. 16 depicts a second cross supplier lot tracking
example. In FIG. 15, the Raw Material is an input to the Fab stage
at supplier fabc and Lot No T0239A is assigned. When the Fab stage
work is complete, a Wafer Shipping Notice is issued and the wafers
are delivered for the Wafer Sort stage to supplier testa for the
Lot No T0239A. When the Wafer Sort stage work is complete, a Sorted
Wafer Shipping Notice is issued and the sorted wafers are split
into three orders and are delivered for the Assembly stage to
Assembly supplier pkgk with Lot No T0239A-1 assigned, are delivered
for the Assembly stage to Assembly supplier pkgz with Lot No
T0239A-2 assigned and are delivered for the Assembly stage to
Assembly supplier pkgftp with Lot No T0239A-3 assigned. When the
Assembly supplier pkgk with Lot No N1805S completes the packaging,
a Assembled Die Shipping Notice is issued and the packaged devices
are delivered for the Final Test stage to the Final Test supplier
pkgftp with Lot No N1805S.1, Lot No N1805S.2 and Lot No N1805S.3
assigned. When the Final Test supplier pkgftp finishes the Final
Test on Lot No N1805S.1, Lot No N1805S.2 and Lot No N1805S.3, the
Finished Goods are available for each of those lots.
[0175] FIG. 17 depicts an Actual Cost--Lot Detail Report for the
Lot No N18005S.1 from Final Test Supplier pkgftp of FIG. 15. The
ability of the supply chain management system to run the FIG. 15
reports results from the Lot Tracking that is performed. In order
to perform Lot Tracking, the mapping of fragmented information
among multiple Suppliers is required. The accuracy of the report
depends on the accuracy of the information and hence the data
integrity processing is important to report accuracy.
[0176] FIG. 18 depicts the purchase order logic flow for creation
and acceptance of orders. Such orders are of the type described in
connection with FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 where a buyer issues a
set of dependent purchase orders in order to progress Raw Materials
to Finished Product. As a first step, a Buyer will initiate the
process Buyer Create BPO entry at A to create a blanket purchase
order. The terms of the BPO are set and may be a standard contract
with standard terms and conditions of the Buyer. Normally, the BPO
undergoes one or manger approvals for the Buyer usually based upon
price thresholds for each manager. The higher the price, the more
management levels that may be required. No Manager1Approve? is
required if the price is less than a first threshold,
Price.ltoreq.$T1, and a Yes results sending the BPO to the Supplier
input C. If the BPO price is not less than a first threshold,
Price.ltoreq.$T1, and a No results, a Manager1Approve? is required
and if a No results, a return is made for further adjustment of the
BPO. If a Manager1Approve? is required and is Yes, the approval
process continues for one or more additional approvals. For
example, when no Manager2Approve? is required (the price is less
than a second threshold, Price.ltoreq.$T2) and a Yes results
sending the BPO to the Supplier input C. If the BPO price is not
less than a second threshold, Price.ltoreq.$T2, and a No results, a
Manager2Approve? is required and if a No results, a return is made
for further adjustment of the BPO. If a Manager2Approve? is
required and is Yes, the approval process continues for one or more
additional approvals. Assuming Manager2Approve? is the last
required and a Yes results sending the BPO to the Supplier input
C.
[0177] If a BPO exists, or in the absence of a BPO if one is not to
be used, a Buyer from time to time will initiate the process Buyer
Create PO entering at B to create a purchase order. The terms of
the PO are set and may be a standard contract with standard terms
and conditions under the BPO of the Buyer or otherwise. As a first
step, a Conditions OK? check is made to make sure that conditions
are properly established for the PO. If the current PO is dependent
upon the output of another stage, perhaps from a different
Supplier, the conditions precedent for the PO are checked and if
satisfied, a Yes will forward to a Terms OK? check and if not a No
will return to PO for further processing. As a second step, a Terms
OK? check is made to make sure that terms of the PO are correct.
For example, if the PO is under a BPO, then a check is typically
made to determine if the quantity and cost is within the balance
remaining on the BPO. If the terms for the PO are checked and if
satisfied, a Yes will forward to a Terms Adjust where, for example,
the amount of the current PO will decrement the balance remaining
on the BPO. If the Terms OK? check is not satisfactory, a No will
return to PO for further processing. Normally, the PO undergoes one
manger approval Manager0 Approve? and if a Yes results, the
processing is sent to the Supplier input C and if No, process is
sent to PO for further processing of the PO
[0178] When a Supplier receives a Supplier Accept BPO/PO input,
entering at C to create approval of a Buyer purchase order. The
terms of the PO are set and may be a standard contract with
standard terms and conditions under the BPO of the Buyer or
otherwise. As a first step, a BPO Terms OK? check is made to make
sure that terms are properly established for the PO or BPO. If the
terms of the BPO are OK, a Yes will forward to a Terms OK? check
and if not a No will return to BPO/PO for further processing. As a
second step, a PO Terms OK? check is make to make sure that the
terms of the PO are correct and if Yes will forward processing for
manager approval. If the Terms OK? check is not satisfactory, a No
will return to BPOIPO for further processing. Normally, the PO
undergoes one manger approval Manager Approve? and if a Yes
results, the processing terminates with Order Confirmed.
[0179] FIG. 19 depicts an example of Final Test Purchase Order. The
PO of FIG. 19 is in an on-line form to Supplier pkgftp and includes
in the lower right-hand corner a thumbnail image of an attachment
that details certain aspects of the PO. The ability of the supply
chain management system to run reports of the FIG. 19 type relies
upon the Lot Tracking facility. In order to perform Lot Tracking,
the supply chain management system maps fragmented information that
inherently is fragmented among multiple Suppliers since there is no
agreed upon standard in the industry. As described, the local
information for each client (Buyers and Suppliers) is mapped with
reference to a master table that constitutes a super set of all the
local tables for each of the clients. The accuracy of each report
depends on the accuracy of the mapped information and hence the
data integrity processing is important in order to be able to have
reporting accuracy among multiple Suppliers and among multiple
Buyers and multiple Suppliers.
[0180] FIG. 20 depicts an example of the attachment that appears as
a thumbnail image in the Final Test Purchase Order of FIG. 19.
[0181] FIG. 21 depicts an example of a Wafer Rolling Output Report.
The ability of the supply chain management system to run reports of
the FIG. 21 type relies upon the Lot Tracking facility. In order to
perform Lot Tracking, the supply chain management system maps
fragmented information that inherently is fragmented among multiple
Suppliers since there is no agreed upon standard in the industry.
As described, the local information for each client (Buyers and
Suppliers) is mapped with reference to a master table that
constitutes a super set of all the local tables for each of the
clients. The accuracy of each report depends on the accuracy of the
mapped information and hence the data integrity processing is
important in order to be able to have reporting accuracy among
multiple Suppliers and among multiple Buyers and multiple
Suppliers.
[0182] FIG. 22 depict an example a Finished Goods Rolling Output
Report. The ability of the supply chain management system to run
reports of the FIG. 22 type relies upon the Lot Tracking facility.
In order to perform Lot Tracking, the supply chain management
system maps fragmented information that inherently is fragmented
among multiple Suppliers since there is no agreed upon standard in
the industry. As described, the local information for each client
(Buyers and Suppliers) is mapped with reference to a master table
that constitutes a super set of all the local tables for each of
the clients. The accuracy of each report depends on the accuracy of
the mapped information and hence the data integrity processing is
important in order to be able to have reporting accuracy among
multiple Suppliers and among multiple Buyers and multiple
Suppliers.
[0183] FIG. 23 depicts an example a Work in Progress Inventory
Report. The ability of the supply chain management system to run
reports of the FIG. 23 type relies upon the Lot Tracking facility.
In order to perform Lot Tracking, the supply chain management
system maps fragmented information that inherently is fragmented
among multiple Suppliers since there is no agreed upon standard in
the industry. As described, the local information for each client
(Buyers and Suppliers) is mapped with reference to a master table
that constitutes a super set of all the local tables for each of
the clients. The accuracy of each report depends on the accuracy of
the mapped information and hence the data integrity processing is
important in order to be able to have reporting accuracy among
multiple Suppliers and among multiple Buyers and multiple
Suppliers.
[0184] In the supply chain management system, an alert process is
provided that extends across the multiple Suppliers environment and
the multiple Buyers and multiple Suppliers environment. Typically,
a Buyer having an integrated circuit (IC) design relies upon
Production Engineers, Production Control Engineers or other
Production Control (PC) personnel to find problems and exceptions
that require action or correction during manufacture and
procurement. Procurement from a manufacturing supply chain having
multiple dependent suppliers, that is, where the output from one
Supplier is the input for other Suppliers, has increased complexity
when compared with less interdependent supply chains. If a Buyer
can only use the Finished Product to solve problems, the job is
tedious and error prone. The alert function is robust and extends
to all stages in the supply chain. The alert function as one of the
supply chain management functions greatly enhances problem
identification and correction in the supply chain.
[0185] The supply chain management system performs alert processes
based upon alert conditions for specific events/reports/process.
The alert conditions are selected by clients. Alert reports are
accessible to clients through onscreen operations or through other
i-commerce methods of communication. Typically, alert conditions
are communicated daily (or more frequently if desired) from the
supply chain management system to clients in the form of event
generation and alert messages.
[0186] By way of an example for the alert functions, it is assumed
for purposes of explanation that for a particular part (PROD), in
the process of P, the standard production cycle time is X days. The
production control (PC) personnel, or production control (PC) agent
if an automated computer system, of a client specifies that if the
real cycle time is longer than the standard cycle time by Y days,
the client is to be alerted. The supply chain management system
implements the algorithm as follows in TABLE 6:
6TABLE 6 Store info by PROD, P, X (static info) Store info by PC, Y
(Client dependent) Periodically check the rule (for example, each
time a production report enters the supply chain management system)
as follows: If report has product PROD If report is for process P
If reported completion time - start time > X Store this record
into Cycle > stdCycle Time With CycleTime = completion time -
start time With product = PROD With process = p When client (PC)
accesses report, If client is PC List any existing records in
stdCycleTime Where product = PROD AND process = p AND CycleTime
> Y.
[0187] The implementation of TABLE 6 is suitable for both standard
reports and client preferences for improved performance.
[0188] Alerts are divided into categories:
[0189] 1) Abnormal time lapse:
[0190] a. Long Queue-in Time: The Queue-in Time is the period from
receiving material (Received Date) to the start of the production
(Start Date). A Long Queue-in Time is when the Queue-in Time is
longer than a specified period. Usually a Long Queue-in Time
results from a constraint in production capacity or a delay in
paper work.
[0191] b. Long In-process Time: The In-process Time is the amount
of time in a production process, WIP, and a Long In-process Time is
when the In-process Time is taking an abnormally long time. A Buyer
or other client may define a threshold for `long cycle time` (per
routing stage) and the supply chain management system reports any
active WIP beyond the specified threshold as a Long In-process
Time.
[0192] c. Long On-hold Time: The On-hold Time is time when a
production process, WIP, is put on hold due to a quality issue, a
machine setup problem, a buyer request or other reason. A Buyer or
other client may define a threshold for `long hold time` (per
routing stage) and the supply chain management system reports any
active WIP beyond the specified threshold as a Long On-hold
Time.
[0193] d. Long In-house Warehouse Time: During and after the
production process, WIP, the materials or finished goods are
usually put in the supplier's warehouse for temporary storage. This
storage is called In-house Warehouse Time (also Die/Wafer bank
time). A Long In-house Warehouse Time is when the In-house
Warehouse Time is too long. A Buyer or other client may define a
threshold for `long in-house warehouse time` and the supply chain
management system reports any storage beyond the specified
threshold as a Long In-house Warehouse Time.
[0194] e. Long In-transit Time: The In-transit Time is the time
lapse between the shipping of one supplier to the receiving of the
following supplier. In-transit goods and materials generally are
the most difficult to track in a supply chain. A Buyer or other
client may define a threshold for `in-transit time` and the supply
chain management system reports any storage beyond the specified
threshold as a Long In-transit Time. The supply chain management
keeps a log of how long it takes from shipping to receiving at each
stage.
[0195] f. Early Complete Notice--An early warning (x-days before
the estimated completion date) is provided to enable a PC to start
planning the production flow. This feature is important for Fab and
Wafer Sort stages.
[0196] g. Stationary Lot Report--A log to show lot movement during
a given period.
[0197] 2) Abnormal yield
[0198] a. Low Yield Threshold is defined by the Buyer or other
client. The supply chain management system tracks yield down to per
device, per part number, per supplier and identifies low yield.
[0199] b. Excess Yield Threshold. Sometimes, a supplier reports the
output quantity larger than reasonable, such as greater than the
input quantity causing a yield greater than 100%.
[0200] 3) Order and invoice
[0201] a. Missing PO. When material is set aside for a
manufacturing process, the accompanying PO has to be there for
suppliers to start the work. However, this is not always done. The
supply chain management system generates alerts for PC in these
cases. The trigger can be set in any stage of the production flow:
for example, when the upstream process is completed, or when the
upstream production is shipped, or when the material is
received.
[0202] b. Cost Approval Delay. When the production process is
finished, the cost needs to be calculated and approved by PCs. If
the cost calculation and approval process has too great a delay, it
is difficult for PC to reconcile this info with the real production
data, since it has been done a long time ago. The supply chain
management system brings the cost calculation and approval process
to alert the PC as soon as a particular process is done, it can
reduce the future dispute and control the production cost.
[0203] c. Cost Deviation. If the unit cost of a particular unit is
larger than a particular percentage of the standard cost for such
unit, the supply chain management system will bring alert the PC,
it can either be due to a low yield, or due to high unit cost.
[0204] d. Received but PO Not Issued--Lot received but PO has not
been issued.
[0205] e. Shipped but PO for next Stage Not Issued--Lot shipped but
PO has not been issued for the following supplier.
[0206] f. Completed but PO Not Closed--WIP status is completed and
PO is not closed.
[0207] g. Completed but Invoice NotApproved--WIP status is
completed, invoice is received and waiting for approval.
[0208] h. Wip Quantity Larger than Ordered Quantity--WIP quantity
should be equal or less than order quantity, this check is
particularly important for foundry PO/WIP reconciliation.
[0209] 4) Performance Index (After the production is done):
[0210] a. Yield Report--per device, part number, routing and
supplier.
[0211] b. Cycle Time Report--per device, part number, routing and
supplier.
[0212] The supply chain management system employs planning based
upon upstream visibility in the supply chain. Such capabilities are
particularly useful in outsourcing to suppliers in a semiconductor
supply chain. In the semiconductor IC-design outsourcing industry,
the buyer (IC-design house) deals with multiple suppliers that
provide various outsourcing functions at different supplier stages.
The buyer places a separate order (Purchase Order) with each
supplier. Although the Purchase Orders are separate between a buyer
and each supplier, each supplier depends on the previous supplier
(upstream supplier) in the supply chain. In order to procure a chip
as finished goods, a buyer first orders wafers from a Fab supplier
(foundry); once the work at the Fab supplier is finished, the buyer
orders sorting from a Wafer Sort supplier; after the Wafer Sort
work is finished, the buyer orders Assembly from an Assembly
supplier; and finally, the buyer orders Final Test from a Final
Test supplier. The supply chain management system, for example, is
able to perform group order generation for groups of dependent
suppliers (Fab, Wafer Sort, Assembly and Final Test suppliers) in
the supply chain.
[0213] At each step of the supply chain, a downstream supplier
waits for the previous upstream supplier to complete (or partially
complete) its work before commencement of work under a new order
can begin. The supply chain management system allows the buyer to
create virtual downstream orders once upstream orders are underway.
The supply chain management system uses estimated date (and
continuously update as more up to date info is provided with the
WIP data), to create virtual (future) orders for the downstream
suppliers.
[0214] Besides providing the buyer with order creation, the supply
chain management system also provides the suppliers with up to date
information regarding up coming orders. Downstream suppliers can
use the supply chain management system to view the current status
of the materials, which will eventually be arriving and requiring
their services.
[0215] In an example for describing the operation, a buyer has a
requirement for final goods (FG) of amount Q chips on date D. Based
upon this information, the supply chain management system operates
as in the following TABLE 7:
7TABLE 7 Calculate the initial wafer required: Using Bill of
Routing: FG is made from FT-FG in Final Test with standard yield
Yft, standard cycle time Dft, by supplier Sft, Thus the date and
quantity to start FT is: Q-FT = Q/Yft FTD = D - Dft FT-FG is made
from AS-FG in Assembly with standard yield Yas, standard cycle time
Das, by supplier Sas, Thus the date and quantity to start AS is:
Q-AS = Q-FT/Yas = Q/Yft/Yas ASD = FTD - Das = D - Dft - Das AS-FG
is made from WS-FG in Wafer Sort with standard yield Yws, standard
cycle time Dws, by supplier Sws, Q-WS = Q-AS/Yws = Q/Yft/Yas/Yws
WSD = ASD - Dws = D - Dft - Das - Dws WS-FG is made from FD-FG in
Foundry, with wafer to die ratio W2D, with standard cycle time Dfd,
by supplier Sfd, Thus the date and quantity to start FD is: Q-FD =
Q-WS/W2D = Q/Yft/Yas/Yws/W2D FDD = WSD - Dfd = D - Dft - Das - Dws
- Dfd (for each lot there are 25 wafers) QL-FD = Q-FD/25
[0216] According to TABLE 6, the supply chain management system
will generate orders for each of the suppliers with the proper
quantity and required date (WS/AS/FT work orders are lot
based).
[0217] Since the supply chain management system is connected to the
supply chain management system Lot Tracking engine, which keeps
track on all the WIP data, the supply chain management system will
constantly update the Quantity and Date information in each of the
subsequent orders.
[0218] Once those orders are generated, the buyer will be notified
a few days (user specified) before the next order is needed to be
submitted to the supplier. The user can then come to the supply
chain management system and reconfirm the order and submit it. The
entire process is automatic and accurate, and greatly increases the
productivity of PC personnel of the IC-design company.
[0219] While the invention has been particularly shown and
described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof it will
be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in
form and details may be made therein without departing from the
scope of the invention.
* * * * *
References